


What do you mean I can't?

by Quiddity_and_Bone



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Clothes, First Date, Gen, M/M, Makeup, This is kind of silly but it made me happy so, alec can actually dress himself, isabelle is a great sister
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-12
Updated: 2017-08-12
Packaged: 2018-12-14 07:07:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11778009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quiddity_and_Bone/pseuds/Quiddity_and_Bone
Summary: If someone tells Alec he can't do something, he absolutely needs to prove otherwise.  This is the perfect chance to show Isabelle how wrong she was to insult his fashion sense.





	What do you mean I can't?

**Author's Note:**

> I relate a lot to Alec because I'm also the oldest sibling to a bunch of people with louder and wilder personalities and I'm usually in the background making sure the others don't kill themselves with their crazy ideas. So I decided to give Alec my trait of taking "you can't do that" as a challenge. I once drank dish soap because my brother said I wouldn't, and as soon as I finished throwing up, he said "bet you won't do it again" and you can guess what happened. Plus I really like to see Alec becoming more comfortable with himself and worrying more about who he wants to be than who the Clave wants him to be. Enjoy!

Two very important things to know about Alec Lightwood: he is excellent at keeping secrets and he’ll do just about anything out of spite.   Maybe part of why he had achieved so much so young was that any time someone suggested he couldn’t do something, he had to prove them wrong.  When he was 12 he had broken his wrist because Jace said he wouldn’t jump from the training room rafters.  The look on Jace’s face had been worth the pain and the lecture.  Of course he usually proved people wrong in quieter ways.  He could run more miles than anyone at the institute, his reports were always the most detailed and first submitted, he was nearly a quarter of the way through reading every book in the Institute’s library, and he was adept at Latin translations - extremely useful in cases of demon summonings and various cursed artifacts and insulting Jace.  Izzy called him an obsessive perfectionist, and she was probably right, but there was nothing quite like the satisfaction of proving someone was wrong about you.

Alec had been waiting for this moment for nearly four years.  At some point he had gotten fed up with Izzy’s comments on his clothes and decided to learn everything he possibly could about fashion.  He changed nothing about the way he dressed, but he made a few secret visits to stores to find out what styles looked best on him, and he kept up with current trends.  He was just waiting for the right time to shock his sister and this was it.  He had finally gotten up the courage to ask Magnus to dinner and he was determined to look fantastic.  His excitement for his prank on Isabelle almost canceled out his nervousness for his date.  

“You asked him out!  I’m so proud of you big brother!”  Izzy threw her arms around him, nearly knocking Alec over.  “You need something to wear!  Let me help you.”

“I’m a grown man Izzy, I can dress myself” Alec had to fight to keep his voice flat.

“Alec” his sister let out a long suffering sigh, “you’re hopeless with clothes.  You need my help.”

“I already picked something out, Iz.”

“ALec”

“If you hate it, you can dress me okay?  I won’t even complain.  But again, I am an adult and can dress myself.”  The irritated brother act was only partly for show, he was really sick of people criticizing the way he dressed.  But Izzy was playing into his hand perfectly and he was already buzzing with the adrenaline of a good prank.

“Deal”

“Alright give me five minutes to change”

Isabelle shouted down the hall after him “If you own anything that’s not black, wear it.” Alec slammed his door a little more than necessary.

He’d bought the outfit earlier in the day, and in the store he was sure it was perfect.  But now, awaiting Izzy’s and  _ Magnus’   _ judgement, he was less certain.  Trying to ignore his nerves, he slid into the clothes.  Tight jeans in a soft grey wash, tucked into combat boots, not his gear boots but a lighter pair in a matte black.  He’d replaced the laces with deep blue ones, liking the touch they gave an otherwise ordinary shoe.  He rolled up the sleeves of his charcoal blazer, he’d bought two shirts to go under it but he had settled on the cobalt v-neck over the burgundy one.  He smoothed down his hair in the mirror and looked himself over.  Alec had a hard time accepting compliments, and an even harder time giving them to himself, but he had to admit he looked good.  He felt good, in a way he never did looking at himself.  He felt attractive, confident like this.  It was enough of a rush for him to dig out the box hidden in the very back of his closet.  He stared at the eyeliner for a long minute, then decided to ask Izzy about it.  He had always been too afraid to try it on, so he would need her help anyway.  He put it on his desk so he couldn’t talk himself out of it.  The knock on his door broke him out of his reverie. 

“It’s been like 10 minutes Alec, I know you can’t find anything just let me help.”  Izzy’s voice was twinkling with amusement, that cut out as Alec opened the door.  She gaped at him, her eyes wider than Alec had ever seen.  “How.  What.  Who helped you?”  Izzy’s voice was caught somewhere between a whisper and a shriek, Alec felt buoyant, floating on her shock.

“Well the woman at the shop helped me decide between a classic lapel and the skinnier one.  We decided the thin one looks more modern and works better with a t-shirt and jeans.”  Alec knew he had a ridiculous grin on his face but he couldn’t help it.  Izzy seemed to be shaking off her shock and a similar grin was stretching across her face.

“Since when can you dress?  You’ve been holding out on me big brother.”

Alec couldn’t help his laugh “I’ve been waiting for the perfect moment.”

“You don’t have to learn everything you can’t do, you know that right?  It’s kinda infuriating for the rest of us.”  There was no real heat behind Izzy’s glare, she looked like she was trying not to laugh.

“I do need your help though Iz, I have two questions for you” Alec grabbed the other shirt off the bed, “should I have gone with the red?  I thought the blue looked nicer but you have a better eye than me.”

Izzy considered the shirts critically for a moment, “Stick with the blue, but you’d better wear that other one soon, it’s a great color for you.” 

“Okay second question…” Alec paused for just a little too long, suddenly unsure of how to ask and wishing he had never gotten the stupid eyeliner out in the first place.  It was one thing to dress nice, but makeup was too unlike him.  Shadowhunters don’t wear eyeliner.  They especially don’t wear eyeliner on dates with men.  He should know better than to think he can have something like that, something so bold, his job is to blend into the shadows, he can’t-

“Alec?”  His sister’s hand on his arm snaps him out of his spiraling thoughts. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just, I don’t know.”  Alec takes a deep breath and spits it out “I bought eyeliner but I don’t know if I should wear it?”  He gestures to the desk and Izzy goes to pick it up.  Now that he’s started talking he can’t seem to stop.  “I didn’t buy it today, I’ve had it for a long time actually, I just don’t know if I should wear it, I mean it’s probably too much right, and it’s not like me at all, I just…”  He lapses into silence and looks up to find his sister staring at him.

“Hey deep breath Alec.  You can wear eyeliner if you want too.  I think you’ll look amazing and I’d bet my whip Magnus will agree.”  Isabelle smiled softly and held up the eyeliner, “should we go for it?”

Alec nodded, something like relief or excitement flooding his veins.  “Just a little though Iz.”

“Don’t worry brother dear, you’re in capable hands.  You’re going to look amazing!”

Holding his face still, Izzy drew thin lines, smoking the pencil out softly along his lash line.  It was light and soft, but unmistakable.  Alec’s eyes glowed.  “I’m really proud of you Alec” Izzy breathed, leaning in to hug him.  “Now go look at yourself you look fantastic!”

Alec’s breath caught when he looked in the mirror.  He looked incredible.  He felt incredible.  He was wearing a great outfit and eyeliner and he was about to go to dinner with a guy he really liked, and he had showed Izzy up for all her years of insulting his taste.  Life was perfect. 

**Author's Note:**

> Magnus is completely blown away btw. He gushes about how beautiful Alec is the whole night. Alec blushes furiously the whole night. It's wonderful.


End file.
